


Far mark’d with the courses of clear winding rills

by Samsonet



Series: Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear, [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Bea & Allister are siblings, Fae Opal, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21694447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samsonet/pseuds/Samsonet
Summary: Opal would never ask Bede to apologize, but the leaders of Stow-on-Side are going to be his colleagues no matter what, so he needs to dosomething.
Relationships: Poplar | Opal & Beet | Bede
Series: Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear, [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553794
Comments: 10
Kudos: 247





	Far mark’d with the courses of clear winding rills

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Robert Burns’ “Afton Water.”

Going to Stow-on-Side is difficult.

Opal knows what happened there: ambition, initiative, desperation — and finally, rejection. Everything turned out for the better, but the memories must still be painful for her boy.

But she wants him to meet with Bea and Allister, so they head into the Tangle and toward the city.

“I will never ask you to apologize,” she tells him on the way, neatly avoiding the question of whether Bede is even sorry in the first place, “but they will be your co-workers, so you should do your best to give a good impression.”

Bede fiddles with the sleeves on his coat. “I understand.”

The Tangle is quiet. The Hatenna are waiting to pounce.

Opal asks, “Which one did you face? ...Don’t look confused like that, my boy. I know you got the fourth badge. Which was it?”

“Oh. I faced Allister.”

That’s her boy. So talented. So strong. Nothing can stand in his way.

*

Opal never had biological children.

She had inherited the stadium at eighteen years old, and it had been everything to her. Somewhere along the line she decided that her duties would prevent her from being a good mother to a small child; if she ever decided to have one, she’d adopt one who could at least tie his shoes.

She can laugh at herself, now, for that thought.

Watching her child — her child! — shake hands with Bea and Allister… Well, it’s a new experience, at least.

The Stow-on-Side leaders look at Bede with wariness. Bede, in turn, looks like he’s waiting for an ambush.

These are not cheerful children. They do not smile. They do not play. They hold themselves in somber postures, acting like they’re grown enough to defend themselves. But they’re little ones, all the same, and Opal loves them.

_The Fae love children._

_They love stealing them away._

She folds her hands on her umbrella. “Let’s walk, shall we?”

*

She leads them to a small café that she knows Bea and Allister like.

It’s Bede’s first time there, but he approaches the unfamiliarity like he approaches everything: calm, confidence, aloofness.

She buys them tea and honey cakes, sweet as a spring day.

The children love them.

*

“It is… difficult, sometimes, being a gym leader,” Bea says. She’s the oldest of the three, a year older than Bede and four years older than Allister. “I have so much to do. I worry… I worry that I won’t be able to carry everything forever.”

(Allister has his mask tipped up, covering his eyes but leaving his mouth clear so he can eat. Opal watches him frown around a mouthful of cake.)

Bede, her boy of the fairy lands, muses, “A burden shared is a burden lightened. For what it’s worth, _I_ will be only a town away. If you need any assistance, I will be able to help you.”

Confidence. Arrogance.

But the Fair Ones have always been bound by their whims.

For her part, Bea only sips from her teacup.

*

When they say their goodbyes, Bede bows his head. “One more thing, if I may.”

Allister’s head tilts. On another child it would be a natural motion, but for him it seems uncanny. “W-what... is it?”

“I want to say — I am sorry for what I did to the mural. It was… foolish of me. I regret it.”

_Rule four: never say you’re sorry._

Opal stifles a sigh.

Bede has much to learn: about being a gym leader, about being a Fair One, about being a person of his own.

But right now, he’s showing he knows how to be human. Right now, the ghost boy nods and the fighting girl smiles. They’ve accepted the apology. They don’t put a condition on it.

Opal will give Bede a point in learning to get along with others. He’s doing just fine, for now.


End file.
